Bioremediation in cold climates
This project is collaborative with Ian Snape and others at the Australian Antarctic Division.
A PhD student (Ellen Woolfenden) has started work on a project in this area:
"Rates of depletion of lubricant and fuel contaminants during natural attenuation from Antarctic marine environments, and ecosystem response to exposure to complex mixtures"
Tip sites are a source of pollution
The overall objective is to better understand the long-term environmental impact of spilled petroleum products in Antarctic marine systems. Decades of Antarctic exploration have left a significant legacy of petroleum pollution on-land and in nearshore marine environments, particularly around human stations. The natural attenuation of spilled diesel and lubricants occurs slowly in cold climates, particularly once the pollutants have adsorbed onto marine sediments. Major programmes funded by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) have identified the location of spills, and the nature and fate of some of the pollutants. This project addresses some of the significant uncertainties which still exist regarding the natural depletion and ecotoxicological impact of spilled diesel and lubricants in soils and in the marine environment.
Specific objectives are:
1. To develop a quantitative method using cutting edge two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOFMS) to identify the components of spilled diesel and lubricants, especially the complex mixtures of recalcitrant residues and the secondary products of alteration.
2. To calculate the rates of removal of pollutants in the marine environment by comprehensive statistical treatment of the chemical data-set, and to assess the processes by which this removal occurs (e.g. aerobic/anaerobic biodegradation, water-washing, etc).
3. To assess the degradation rates and longevity of pollutant components against the biology of the disturbed communities of microbes and microfauna in the same experiments, so as to form a hypothesis of which components of the complex mixtures have the most important ecotoxicological response and environment impact.
4. Using the most important single isolated or related groups of components, to test the specific ecotoxicological impact of each in the marine environment using a short-term field experiment and laboratory toxicity tests.
Outcome so far
Diamondoids as remediation indicators
McIntyre, C., Harvey, P., Snape, I., and George, S.C. (2005) Diamondoids as bioremediation indicators for diesel spills. In: Abstract Book 22nd International Meeting on Organic Geochemistry: Vol. 1, (eds González-Vila, F.J., González-Pérez, J.A., Almendros, G.), EAOG, Seville, pp. 196-197.
Selective biodegradation of isoprenoid isomers
McIntyre, C., Harvey, P.McA., Ferguson, S.H., Wressnig, A.M., Volk, H., George, S.C. and Snape, I. (2007) Determining the extent of biodegradation of fuels using the diastereomers of acyclic isoprenoids. Environmental Science & Technology41, 2452-2458. doi: 10.1021/es0621288
Chemical composition of fuel from the hut of explorer Robert Falcon Scott, Cape Evans, Antarctica
Volk, H., McIntyre, C., Batts, B.D. and George, S.C. (2005) Composition and origin of fuel from the hut of explorer Robert Falcon Scott, Cape Evans, Antarctica. Organic Geochemistry36, 655-661.
McIntyre, C., Harvey, P.McA., Ferguson, S.H., Wressnig, A.M., Snape, I. and George, S.C. (2007) Determining the extent of weathering of spilled fuel in contaminated soils using the diastereomers of pristine and phytane. Organic Geochemistry 38, 2131-2134. doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2007.07.010.
McIntyre, C., Harvey, P.McA., Ferguson, S.H., Wressnig, A.M., Volk, H., George, S.C. and Snape, I. (2007) Determining the extent of biodegradation of fuels using the diastereomers of acyclic isoprenoids. Environmental Science & Technology 41, 2452-2458.